Learning To Teach in an Age of Accountability

Arthur T. Costigan, Karen Kepler Zumwalt, Margaret Smith Crocco, David Milton Gerwin

• Contents: Preface. Part I: Choosing to Become a Teacher. Teaching Is Messy Work. High-Stakes Teaching. Part II: Teaching as an Autobiographical Act. Vocation? Profession? Or Just a Job? "Having a Life" as a New Teacher. From Noble Ideals to Everyday Realities. Part III: Encountering Classrooms and Schools. Lessons, Kids, and Classrooms. Accountability, Autonomy, and Responsibility in the Classroom. Teaching Is Not Just What Happens When You Close the Classroom Door. The Global Village of the Classroom. Part IV: New Teachers as Decision Makers. The Past Is Never Past. Teaching as a Political Act. Part V: Confronting the Age of Accountability.K.K. Zumwalt, Choosing to Make a Difference.

"This volume offers a compreshensive look into the multifaceted challanges faced by educators in contemporary times." "Recommended."—CHOICE"Learning to Teach in an Age of Accountability, by Arthur Costigan and Margaret Smith Crocco, with Karen Kepler Zumwalt, documents the voices of many new teachers -- important voices, articulate voices, emotional voices. In an age of accountability, these voices bring to light many significant struggles, tensions, and conundrums that exist for them as they enter middle and secondary school environments."—Teaching Education"There is a need for a text like this one. It will be useful for beginning teachers to help them think about how to better manage the tensions associated with the current school environment, and to those who prepare and supervise them....Using cases of the actual experiences of beginning urban teachers is excellent."—Kenneth M. ZeichnerUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison"Learning to Teach in an Age of Accountability paints a vivid picture of the complex reality, role, and professional development of teachers [and] makes clear connections between accountability mandates and how this negatively impacts teachers and students via narrowly defined curricula and practices....I found it rich and interesting....This book fills a void as a qualitative critical work that looks at what really matters to teachers."—Holly ThorntonUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro"This book left me both exhilarated and dispirited--so many articulate and passionate new teachers, yet so many problems in schools. The voices of new teachers are here....I can't think of a problem faced by new teachers that is not addressed in some way....This will be a popular book. I would love to use it with my pre-service teachers."—Marilyn JohnstonOhio State University